Questions and Answers
by Potgenie
Summary: It came so easily to him once. But now, it's a question that he can no longer answer.


**I was in a weird mood when I wrote this one-shot. Read on!**

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Questions and Answers  
By Potgenie

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"Onii-chan?"

He looked up distractedly from his Lego car and turned around to face his baby sister. She was sitting in front of the television but was no longer watching it – the credits rolled on the screen but her back was turned to it.

"Yes, Hikari?" He put down his car and watched as she picked herself up and walked over to where he was surrounded by a mass of toy bricks, settling herself comfortably by his side. Her short brown hair framed her tiny face, which now wore an open, curious expression that told Yagami Taichi that he was about to be bombarded by questions that only a precarious five-year-old would ask.

"Onii-chan, why do people die?"

Her voice was so light and innocent that it was hard to believe that she had just asked such a question.

"What do you mean?" The boy stared at her, blinking in surprise. "Why're you asking me this, Hikari?"

"That bad guy in the show," Hikari said, pointing at the television. "He died and everybody was very happy. But why? Why are they happy that someone died?"

Taichi pondered this, his childlike mind trying to grasp the depth of his sister's question – a depth that she herself probably didn't even realize. He thought he knew the answer to her question, and after thinking for a little he answered her. "They were happy because he's a bad guy," he answered finally. "After he's dead, he won't cause trouble anymore."

"Oh…" Hikari stared at the floor. Taichi couldn't help thinking that she looked rather unsatisfied with this explanation. "But, does everybody die, Onii-chan?"

He bit his lip and nodded. "Everybody dies when they're old."

"But the bad guy wasn't old. He looked younger than Otou-san."

Taichi shook his head at that. "Well, I think that's because he was a bad guy. That's why he died when he was young."

She nodded slowly, still thinking. "Where do people go when they die, Onii-chan?"

Taichi brightened at once. He knew the answer to that! "Sensei told us! She said that when people die, it's like falling asleep for a long, long time. And it's like having a very nice dream that lasts forever."

"Forever?" Hikari repeated, shrinking back a little. "Forever is a long time…"

Taichi nodded vigorously. "But Sensei said that just because somebody is dead doesn't mean that the person is gone. The person has just left for another place in another world and as long as he or she is remembered, they're not gone."

Hikari smiled at that, a sweet curve of the lips that lit up her face and revealed some of her new baby teeth. "I'm glad. He was a bad guy and everybody was happy, but I felt sad when he died."

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"Onii-chan?"

He turned around, surprised at the sound of his sister's voice. He had thought that she was asleep with the others. She had only just recovered from a fever – what was she doing up at this hour? She had to be tired out still.

"Hikari, why are you not sleeping?" He asked as she clambered onto the rock he was sitting on. "It's late and we've got lots to do tomorrow. You should be getting some rest."

"But you're not resting too, Onii-chan," Hikari pointed out.

"Yamato's taking over guard duty in just a bit," Taichi responded. Hikari didn't reply, simply leaned against her brother and closed her eyes. He smiled down at her and a peaceful silence settled between them, broken a few minutes later by Hikari's quiet voice.

"Do you think that the Digimon go to a better place too, when they die, Onii-chan?"

He startled slightly. The question, as unexpected as the one from three years ago, threw him off like it did then.

Hikari had only arrived at the Digital World for a short while, and already Taichi felt that his little sister had seen too much. All the battles, fighting and death – how could all these be so blatantly exposed to a young eight-year-old like her?

"Of course they do," he replied with certainty. "Besides, Digimon are special. They get reborn, remember? That's what happened to Patamon. Then they can live a happy life all over again."

"That's nice," Hikari whispered, opening her eyes.

"Are you feeling alright?" Taichi asked, looking down at her in concern.

She returned his gaze, bobbing her head at once. "I'm fine!" She told him brightly, eyes filled with childlike innocence. But there was no mistaking the shimmer of wisdom beneath that, a shimmer of understanding of certain matters that seemed just a little inappropriate for a child her age.

"I just think…" She looked down at her feet as though embarrassed. "It'd be nice if people can get reborn too, you know."

He was unsure of how to answer that. Three years separated his original answer with today's. Three years ago, he had believed whole-heartedly the tales of his preschool teacher.

But now… he was older, more realistic and had seen too much to be as naive. How can one possibly say with confidence that they know?

She hopped off the rock, ready to go back to bed. Before heading back to the camping ground, she turned to look at her brother for one last time.

"Then nobody would be sad."

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He stared at the picture without really seeing it. The smiling photograph stared back at him, a picture of sunshine and cheerfulness. She looked so happy and relaxed – she always did. Somehow, now, it didn't fit…

Only dimly aware of his close friends watching him a distance away, worry etched on their faces, he moved past the altar and toward the mahogany coffin.

She looked so relaxed and peaceful. Her eyes were gently closed, and if not for the elaborate clothes and painfully white powder on her face, one could mistake her for simply being asleep.

… _it's like falling asleep for a long, long time …_

Those words that he had uttered so long ago (so many years ago – how was it that he still remembered them so well?) came rushing back to him now and he felt the urge to let out a derisive laugh at his own naivety back then.

She was dead. Dead and gone, lying cold and stiff in the coffin. She was dead and she was never coming back. When one sleeps, they eventually awake. But when one dies, it is for forever.

"Onii-chan?"

A gentle hand rested on his shoulder but this time, he didn't turn around. She came over to his side and looked down at the coffin, too. Her expression was calm, but red and swollen eyes betrayed her seemingly unruffled exterior. For a few minutes, both of them simply stood there side-by-side, not speaking, staring down at the body of their mother.

"She's dead," Taichi whispered finally, and the words seemed to hit him like a ton of bricks, the pain worse than anything he had ever felt. It was his first time admitting it and now that he had, he wished he hadn't. It only emphasized the finality when he didn't want this to end yet, wasn't ready to let go.

"She's dead... gone. _Forever_. She's never coming back."

Hikari turned to face him, an unreadable expression on her face.

"That's not what you said fifteen years ago."

"That was different!" He said curtly, turning away and all of a sudden feeling unreasonably angry at his sister. "I was _eight_, Hikari. What did you expect?"

He clenched his fists, nails digging hard into his flesh.

"I was five then," she replied, her voice shaking slightly now. "But that doesn't mean I've changed my mind."

He turned back abruptly. Her eyes were closed, tears rolling gently down her cheeks.

"She'll always be in our hearts, Onii-chan."

_It's like having a very nice dream that lasts forever._

_Just because somebody is dead doesn't mean that the person is gone…_

He blinked rapidly but the tears fell anyway; his vision clouded over but he didn't brush them away.

The question remained firmly in his mind; he couldn't get rid of it. He had had an answer for it once.

But as you grow older, some things just can't stay the same. It doesn't matter how hard you try. You can never go back, and what you once believed in now appears ridiculous and childish.

It was a question that he could no longer answer.

"Hikari?"

She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Where do people go when they die?"

**FIN.**

**I just realized tomorrow is Mothers' Day, and now I'm a little sad…**

**Please review. I'm not that good at tragedies, but I tried. I hope I made the transitions between the three events smooth enough.**

**Thank you! – points at huge green button that's right smack in the centre –**


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